


School of Hard Knocks

by ttacticianmagician



Series: Belated Dedue Week 2020 [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Crack Ending, Cute, Dedue Week (Fire Emblem), Fluff, Gen, Humor, Kinda, kids being kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:17:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22340113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ttacticianmagician/pseuds/ttacticianmagician
Summary: Dedue teaches orphans how to brawl.Written for Dedue Week 2020 Day 3: School
Series: Belated Dedue Week 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605457
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	School of Hard Knocks

**Author's Note:**

> Originally I had a different idea for this prompt but I scrapped it and wrote this idea because my first idea was boring. I think that was a good choice in the end. I like what I've written here, even if it's short.

Dedue often aided Dimitri in his makeshift school for orphans. The prince taught them mostly swordplay and other skills that would help them survive outside of the monastery. When Dimitri first requested Dedue's assistance in the matter, he hesitated to say yes. He normally would do anything his liege asked for, but he and children didn't mix very well. They were always frightened by his intimidating size and the permanent scowl on his face, so if he joined Dimitri, he would undoubtedly hinder their process. But Dedue ultimately relented before Dimitri's incessence, and soon found his place as an opponent that Dimitri could demonstrate techniques against.

His job probably didn't paint him in a favorable light to the children. Wasn't Dimitri inadvertently teaching them to think of men from Duscur as enemies? So Dedue was surprised to learn that wasn't the case. The orphans sympathized with someone who was beaten up all the time, and started cheering for Dedue more often than Dimitri. Dimitri luckily took this turn of events in stride and continued his classes with good humor.

Today, however, the prince was out on a mission with the professor. Dedue offered to go with them, but Dimitri told him that they didn't need his help. He instead tasked him with teaching the orphans in today's class, in his stead.

He would rather be fighting real enemies than teach a class of children. Dedue still didn't think they liked him all that much. How would they react if their beloved teacher was replaced by his inferior assistant? And he was not great at teaching anyway. He couldn't come up with the right words to guide them like Dimitri could, not could he come up with gentle enough drills that were suitable for children. 

But he was going to try anyway. Dedue would rather not disappoint His Highness based on his own doubts. He held his head up high as he approached the five youngsters that had already assembled in the courtyard.

"Where's Mr. Dimitri?" One of the orphans, called Avery, asked.

"His Highness is out on a mission." Dedue replied back without a hint of hesitation. "I will be teaching you today instead.

"Oh." Avery looked a little crestfallen. The other children started tittering amongst themselves. Dedue's first thought was that they were planning an uprising of some sort. But if he stayed calm and continued to exert his authority, they would surely fall in line. Right?

"Mr. Dedue, are you going to teach us the spinning sword trick today?" A girl named Cora piped up.

Dedue blinked. He knew of the technique that she described, but he wasn't aware of Dimitri promising to teach that. Perhaps she thought with a different instructor, they could work on something flashier but more dangerous.

"No." He said, to her disappointment.

"How about the jumping backslash?" Another kid, Sen, raised his hand.

"No." That wasn't something Dimitri could even do.

"What are we gonna do today then?" Avery mumbled. 

"Today we will…"

Dimitri asked Dedue to work on their basic sword skills. Stances, grips, forms, things that were sure to bore them, judging from their impatient questions. Dedue was adequate enough at swords to teach them the most basic of lessons, but he felt like he wouldn't be able to handle them if they continued to test his limits.

An idea struck him. Maybe he should ignore the plan and teach them something  _ he _ was good at…

"I will teach you how to brawl."

He knew that was a mistake the instant the kids shouted several different opinions at once. Avery gave him a confused look, Cora and Sen protested, saying that they wanted to use swords today, and the remaining two orphans, Gill and Rubert, started punching each other's shoulders excitedly.

"But I already know how to punch." Avery said.

"Do you?" Dedue gave him a hard stare. "Why don't you try landing a hit on me?"

Avery stood up and sized his opponent with an equally hard stare. He clenched his right hand into a fist and flung it at Dedue's chest. Such a blatantly telegraphed move was easily avoided, as well as the next. Dedue could keep going all day, but he opted to end this quickly by grabbing the next thrown fist, flipping the poor boy's body, and pinning him to the ground.

"Hey! No fair!" Avery cried out. "You're bigger and stronger than me! There was no way I coulda won!"

"Size and strength does not mean everything." Dedue released his hold on Avery, who immediately scrambled to his feet. "There are ways for a smaller person to bear a bigger opponent, because brawling isn't just about punching. You need to use your entire body to win when you have no weapons but your body. That includes kicking, grappling, even biting."

"But the knights told us not to bite each other." Gill pouted.

"In civil company, you should not bite others. But in a battle for your life, you must do what you can to survive."

Dedue managed to hold their attention long enough to go into the basics of brawling. Not only did he teach them how to punch properly, he taught them how to dodge swings, how to grab someone, and where to strike. He especially focused on techniques that would allow them to gain an advantage over bigger and burlier foes. As the orphans tried out what he showed them on training dummies (and occasionally on each other), Dedue couldn't help but feel a growing sense of pride. Once he got the kids to listen to him, they were actually well behaved. He would have never known that if he let his bad attitude ruin the entire experience. Now he felt a little guilty for being so pessimistic in the first place.

This class ended up taking longer than he thought, and although the kids were decorated with bruises from head to toe, they were also beaming ear to ear. Apparently, tussling on the ground was more fun than the stiff and stoic art of swordplay. He didn't even notice Dimitri when he walked up from behind. Dedue only saw him when he made himself known by clearing his throat.

"It looks like the children are enjoying themselves." He chuckled lightly.

"Your Highness." Dedue gave him a bow. "They have taken a liking to my instruction, moreso than I realized. They want to continue my classes on brawling. I feel as though I should apologize."

"Nonsense! Why are you apologizing? If these kids like it, then you should keep going!"

"But I'm afraid I have distracted them from your original lessons."

"That is quite alright." Dimitri smiled. "This school exists to better their lives, to give them a fighting chance when they grow up. Whether they protect themselves with their fists or their swords matters not to me."

Dedue nodded wordlessly. He still felt some remorse over deviating from Dimitri's plans, but at least his liege was not upset over it.

"Besides, they're children." Dimitri shrugged. "They probably only enjoy this so much because it's new. I bet they'll become bored of brawling after a few weeks."

"Oh…"

"Mr. Dimitri!" Cora ran up to the pair. "Wanna see what I learned today?"

"Of course!" Dimitri held out his arms and braced himself for a demonstration. He probably expected a punch to the gut or an attempt to throw him to the ground. He definitely did not expect the young girl to punch him in the groin. 

With an ear-splitting yelp, Dimitri fell over and did not get back up. Cora laughed maniacally, only to be cut short by harsh words and thrown fists from the other boys. A(nother) fight between the kids was brewing in the background, but Dedue couldn’t care less about it at the moment.

"Your Highness!!" Dedue knelt down to attend to Dimitri. There was not much he could do to treat such an injury. Perhaps he needed to be carried to the infirmary?

"I must apologize for her low blow. I swear upon my honor that I did not teach that specific move." Dedue sputtered out profusely. Although he did tell her to use whatever means to win, so he did feel partially responsible…

"Argh… It's quite… alright." Dimitri panted in between wheezes. "I'll just be... feeling this for a while..."

**Author's Note:**

> _You have been defeated. Use Divine Pulse to turn back the hands of time._


End file.
